344.555 Prohibition against sex discrimination under any education program receiving state financial assistance -- Exceptions. (1) No person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving state financial assistance, except that: (a) In regard to admissions to educational institutions, this section shall apply only to institutions of vocational education, professional education, and graduate higher education, and to public institutions of undergraduate higher education; (b) This section shall not apply to an educational institution which is controlled by a religious organization if the application of this subsection would not be consistent with the religious tenets of the organization; (c) This section shall not apply to an educational institution whose primary purpose is the training of individuals for the military services of the United States, or the merchant marines; (d) In regard to admissions, this section shall not apply to any public institution of undergraduate higher education which is an institution that traditionally and continually from its establishment has had a policy of admitting only students of one (1) sex; (e) This section shall not apply to membership practices of a social fraternity or social sorority which is exempt under Section 501(a) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the active membership of which consists primarily of students in attendance at an institution of higher education, or of the Young Men's Christian Association, Young Women's Christian Association, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and voluntary youth service organizations which are exempt under Section 501(a) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code, the membership of which has traditionally been limited to persons of one (1) sex and principally to persons of less than nineteen (19) years of age; (f) This section shall not apply to any program or activity of the American Legion undertaken in connection with the organization or operation of any Boys State conference, Boys Nation conference, Girls State conference, or Girls Nation conference; or any program or activity of any secondary school or educational institution specifically for the promotion of any Boys State conference, Boys Nation conference, Girls State conference, or Girls Nation conference; or the selection of students to attend any such conference; (g) This section shall not preclude father-son or mother-daughter activities at an educational institution, but if such activities are provided for students of one (1) sex, opportunities for reasonably comparable activities shall be provided for students of the other sex; and (h) This section shall not apply to any scholarship or other financial assistance awarded by an institution of higher education to any individual because such individual has received the award in any pageant in which the attainment of the award is based upon a combination of factors related to the personal appearance, poise, and talent of the individual and in which participation is limited to individuals of one (1) sex only, so long as the pageant is in compliance with other nondiscrimination provisions of state and federal law. (2) Nothing contained in subsection (1) of this section shall be interpreted to require any educational institution to grant preferential or disparate treatment to the members of one (1) sex on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of that sex participating in or receiving the benefits of any state supported program or activity, in comparison with the total number or percentage of persons of that sex in any community, state, section, or other area. However, nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the consideration in any hearing or proceeding under KRS 344.550 to 344.575 of statistical evidence tending to show that an imbalance exists with respect to the participation in, or receipt of the benefits of, any program or activity by the members of one (1) sex. Effective: July 13, 1990 History: Created 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 462, sec. 2, effective July 13, 1990.